He had read her letters to the newspaper and thrown them back in her face. Victoria’s steps slowed and she came to a halt.
“Coco darling, if a man crossed you and you had in mind to exact a spot of vengeance, how would you go about it?”
Her sister let out a hiss of delighted surprise. “Yesss. Now, let me think. So many possibilities. In the meantime, we had better keep walking, lest our brothers turn round and wonder what we are up to.”
They resumed playing the part of sweet young ladies as they followed after their brothers, offering smiles and gentle ‘good mornings’ to everyone of their acquaintance whom they encountered. Little was said between them, but Victoria could just imagine Coco was busy coming up with one of her devious plans.
I hope she is, I need something brilliant in order to strike back at the duke.
“Before the scandal of our parents, I would have suggested an open challenge. Tear the cad down in public. But now that Mama is working so hard to reenter society along with securing you a suitable husband, I would think you’d need to tread more carefully.”
The prospect of giving the hard-hearted matrons of thetonsomething new to gossip about their family had Victoria’s breakfast churning in her stomach.
I can’t do anything that would hurt my family.
She worried what another scandal might do to their father. The duke had run close to madness when his wife had refused to come home from Rome.
“Yes, no scandals. So, what would you suggest?”
A sly smile crept to her sister’s face. “Lord knows rumors have caused enough damage to our family, so why not do the same to him. Everyone has skeletons in their closet. The Duke of Saffron Walden must have something he wants kept from public knowledge. You just need to find out what that thing is and use it to hurt him.”
“Coco you are a treasure. Evil, but brilliant. The Duke of Spice does have a secret I expect he would want kept from the world, at any price.”
Robert Tolley might think he had the measure of her, but she was not without her own weapons against him. If she publicly unmasked him as the restaurant reviewer, it would cause him no end of trouble. And public embarrassment. Thetondiscovering that a duke of high rank was writing articles for a daily newspaper would be nothing short of scandalous.
“Extortion is such a vulgar word, but if revenge is what you seek, I can highly recommend it,” replied Coco.
A shudder raced through Victoria. She really didn’t want to know what Coco knew of the dark art of blackmail. Something told her that her sweet sister had already ventured down that road more than once.
Coco lay her hand over Victoria’s arm. “A word of caution. Be sure of the outcome which you seek. I’ve seen these things not only fail but come back to bite with fierce vengeance. Be very careful what you wish for,” said her sister.
What do I wish for? I want him to feel as low as he made me feel last night.
When she was finished with him, the Duke of Spice would think long and hard about ever trying to embarrass a young lady in public ever again.
Victoria beamed at her sister. “Let’s catch up with our brothers, I’m in the mood to celebrate. As soon as we are done promenading this morning, we should head to the cake shop on Oxford Street, the one you love so much. My treat.”
She was going to find a way to unmask the Duke of Saffron Walden. Reveal his secret role as London’s worst restaurant reviewer and then ensure that he was sacked from the newspaper. His public ignominy would be sweeter than anything Victoria had ever tasted.
Chapter Nineteen
It was close to midnight when Victoria lightly tapped on her sister’s bedroom door. She flinched as Coco suddenly opened it and dragged her inside. “I…”
Coco’s hand pressed over her mouth. “Shh. Do you want to wake the entire household?” Victoria shook her head, and her sister released her. “The first rule you have to learn about sneaking out of here is to be silent as a wraith. If you make a noise, one of the servants will hear, and then we will never go anywhere.”
Victoria wasn’t accustomed to stealing out into the night. At this hour, she’d much prefer to be in the warmth and comfort of her bed, preferably with a good book. Coco on the other hand was the mistress of mischief and midnight wanderings.
“Did you find out where he lives?” asked Coco.
“Yes, Pye Street. But I can hardly go knocking on his front door in the middle of the night,” replied Victoria. What would she do if he answered? Shove a pistol in his face and go through with her mad plan of challenging him to a duel?
This is a mistake. I haven’t a clue what I’m doing.
She had managed to find out where the Duke of Saffron Walden lived through Richard, who had attended a party next door to his house some time last year. Her brother had fortunately not asked why she wanted to know—he had been more interested in the state of her purse. A handful of coins had bought his silence.
A sly smile appeared on Lady Coco Kembal’s lips. Was that a wicked glint in her eye?
“The first thing you need to do is what we night ramblers call a sneaky sortie. You walk to the rear of his home and slip in through the garden gate. I find you can discover plenty of things about people from their gardens.”
